Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay has launched trading services in Australia, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 7.
Zebpay has expanded its trading services to Australia by opening a new office in the fintech hub of Melbourne. The exchange’s Australian customers are now able to trade across five fiat to crypto trading pairs including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), ripple (XRP), bitcoin cash (BCH) and litecoin (LTC) both on desktop and Android and iOS apps.
To conduct operations in Australia, Zebpay has acquired a license with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre — Australia's financial intelligence agency with regulatory responsibility for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing — and became a member of the Australian Digital Commerce Association.
Sandeep Khurana, Zebpay’s Australia Director, said that “Australia is an ideal market for Zebpay’s services with its clear stance on regulation, openness to fintech innovation and thirst for crypto products.”
Last October, Zebpay had to close its doors to its Indian customers due to the country’s crypto banking ban. Citing “extremely difficult” conditions it encountered attempting to process customer orders in the current environment, the exchange gave just several hours’ notice of the decision before closing.
Prior to that, Zebpay froze Indian rupee deposits and withdrawals on July 4, 2018, a day before the bank ban on cryptocurrency businesses came into effect. In a warning statement, Zebpay said that events at the time were “beyond its control,” having previously warned users that rupee deposits and withdrawals could stop if the ruling from the Reserve Bank of India (RBOI) went ahead.
A year after an RBOI circular banned the country’s financial institutions from dealing with crypto-related business, the country’s officials are reportedly considering an outright ban on cryptocurrencies. Local reports from late April 2019 state that a draft bill that would ban cryptocurrency is circulating among various departments of the Indian government.